Congress Passes Mental Health Parity Bill

A long fight over putting the coverage of mental health on par with other health conditions is nearly over.

Both houses of Congress yesterday passed bills that would prohibit employers who offer mental health coverage from doing things like charging higher co-pays for mental health services than for other kinds of health care. That’s long been a common practice.

“You go in there with a broken arm, you have a $200 deductible and your insurance kicks in,” Rep. Patrick Kennedy told the Washington Post. “You have depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and you find out you have a $2,000 deductible, you’ve got limitations on your treatment and all kinds of co-pay.”

Kennedy, who has battled substance abuse, is a Rhode Island Dem. and a sponsor of the bill. His dad, Sen. Ted Kennedy, now battling brain cancer, has been a champion of the legislation in the Senate.

The legislation exempts businesses with fewer than 50 employees. That’s one of several compromises that won the bill broad support from the business community and the Bush administration.

The House passed the language as a stand-alone bill (online here), while the Senate included it in another measure. So they’ll have to come to a joint agreement about what form the measure will take to be sent off to the White House for the president’s signature.

Comments (5 of 16)

Millions of people suffer with depression and other mental health issues and have been unable to get the help they need due to high deductibles, limitations on visits and a total lack of coverage from their insurance companies. Treating depression, anxiety and stress with the help of mental health professionals (as opposed to medical doctors) will actually lower health costs! This is one of the things that employers don't acknowledge--their premiums are high because of all the untreated mental health disorders--they end up at a medical doctor with headaches, stomach aches, ulcers, and more --

9:41 pm February 23, 2009

Arcangel54 wrote :

It about time the recognitin is there to help the helpless many of the one who suffer from post tramatic stress disorder go for years without help because the employers think they are crazy ,Iworked for Homeland Security at the San Antonio airport and I believe the law passed to preserve the integrity of the individual and someone at the San AntonioAirport TSA HURT THIS INDIVIDUAL and the person who released information and hurt this person was never punish leaking info this was upper management the rumor spread like wild fire and NO=ONE WAS PUNISHED UPPER MANAGEMENT AT HOMELAND SECURITY SUCKS AND NO IT WAS NOT I BUT WHEN I HAVE HAD DOCTORS APP>THEY TREAT YOU LIKE A CHILD AND HAVE IMMATURE RULES AGAIN A LAW WAS PASSED BUT GOVERNMENT AT LEAST AT THIS AIRPORT IS VIOLATED AND FSD VASQUEZ ALLOWS THIS IMMATURE AND BREAKING THE LAW AND THE HR DOES NOTRHING BUT COLLECT THEIR PAYCHECKS AND BELIEVE ME YOU DO NOT HAVE HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS BEING AN EMPLOYEE FOR THE TSA THEY MAKE UP THEIR OWN RULES I HAVE SEEN SCREENERS QUIT BECAUSE THEY WERE SO VIOLATED AND IT IS GOING ON TO THIS DAY WHY ????????? NOW THAT IS WHY IF PERSON GET A CHEMICAL IMBALANCE THEY ARE PERSECUTED TSA LAUGHS AT NOW DO YOU FEEL SECURE GOING THROUGH AN AIRPORT WITH THAT MENTALITY ???????????I KNOW !RIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!

12:13 pm October 21, 2008

michelle wrote :

It's about time!
When I was a kid, although we had health insurance, it paid nothing for mom's mental illness. Dad paid 100% of the cost for all of her many psych drugs and the monthly psychiatrist visits. These expenses impacted our financial situation and my life in a major way. However, I have to count myself as one of the lucky ones, when I think of how many folks forgo treatment because they can't afford it.
It's time to end this preventable pain and suffering.

12:46 pm October 16, 2008

Jim wrote :

From a brief reading of the bill on "Thomas" the only exceptions to this parity are for under 50 groups and for groups that can demonstrate a 2% growth in cost during the first year. There doesn't seem to be an ERISA Self-funded exemption. The final implementation will be published in the Federal Register when the regulatory rules are finalized.... Jim